Invoices and receipts from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration have raised new questions about extravagant spending as the city faces a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall.
Documents uncovered by local news station NBC 5 revealed that, amid the fiscal crisis, the city spent more than $80,000 to redecorate and renovate an office at the Chicago Cultural Center for first lady Stacie Johnson.
“Invoices and receipts, obtained by NBC 5 Investigates through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests, show that work order requests began in February and continued through August of this year to renovate and redecorate the Hall. 306 at the Chicago Cultural Center,” the report said.
Electricians, carpenters and painters were hired on the city payroll for the job, according to an invoice from the city's Fleet and Facilities Management department, also called 2FM, NBC 5 reported. The workers logged more than 350 hours of work at a cost more than $25,000.
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's office is facing scrutiny after the city spent $80,000 on renovations to First Lady Johnson's office. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Another invoice reportedly shows the city paid more than $43,000 for furniture, including a $2,200 office chair and a $4,400 desk labeled “First Lady's Desk” on the document. The city spent another $4,600 on a desk for one employee and more than $8,300 on two club chairs, according to the outlet.
The invoice was dated Aug. 13 and the due date was Sept. 12, NBC 5 reported.
Mayor Johnson's office did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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Under Johnson's administration, Chicago faces a budget deficit of nearly $1 billion in 2025. (Vincent Alban/Getty Images)
Confronted with the bills and asked to defend the city's spending, Johnson told NBC 5: “So the Cultural Center has always been a place for dignitaries; every first lady has had office space there. The renovations for my office or any other office are standard. “Our commitment to investing in people remains investing in people.”
The mayor rejected subsequent questions about the optics of excessive spending at a time when his administration is considering layoffs of city workers to cut costs.
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Johnson was elected in 2023 as the left's favorite candidate, on a platform of increasing spending on municipal services. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
“Buying a desk is not going to change the financial structural damage that has been going on for a long time. That's why we ask – and I say this with respect – we ask much deeper questions than that. We ask, how do we make sure that the structural damage that has been created over decades? We divert the rivers, so to speak, to make sure that we get to the places where there is dry land. And that's what we're doing,” he said.
When NBC 5 pressed the issue, Johnson criticized the outlet's questions. “So I've been mayor for 17 months, and do you have any questions about how I feel about optics? Just re-review the tape. If I allowed my leadership to be based on someone's opinion of me, it would be a breach of duty. I never question my position of investing in people. I don't do this for the optics; I do it to transform lives.
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The mayor said he is more focused on the optics of hiring young people for summer jobs, building affordable housing and ensuring schools have counselors and social workers, as well as investing in Chicago's South and West sides.
But Johnson has yet to present a plan to close the city's projected $982 million budget gap.
